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High-Tech Holiday List
You can fill those business stockings with new electronic gadgets

It's that time of year again -- holiday shopping lists abound, and this column will be no exception to that hallowed tradition. So, if your business could benefit from a visit from Santa's Technology Division, here are a few items that you might want to include in your wish list:

For those of you who routinely lead brainstorming sessions, here's something that will help capture those innovative ideas. Microtouch Systems (http://www.microtouch.com/) is introducing its new business unit with a electronic white board called Ibid. Ibid works like an ordinary white board, and uses standard white board markers, but its output can be sent to a PC, a printer or a network. The technology is not new, but MicroTouch's board is priced aggressively at $500, while rival products run about $2,000.

Another innovation in pricing is represented by a new computer from a new firm. Atlanta-based Monorail, Inc. is marketing a PC they call, simply enough, the Monorail Computer (http://www.monorail.com/mktginfo.htm). This not-so-stripped-down machine makes use of an inexpensive 10" flat-panel display and sports a Pentium-class processor, 16 MB of RAM, a 1 GB hard drive, and a very fast 33.6 Kbps modem. Just for fun, they throw in Windows 95, a CD-ROM drive and built-in stereo speakers. The price of the total package? An incredibly low $999.

If you want your technology to leave the office with you, consider the new "ruggedized" laptop from Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Company (http://www.mei.co.jp/). Sold here in the western world under the Panasonic brand name and billed as water-resistant and drop-proof, this laptop is practically invulnerable. The machine is encased in a magnesium alloy cabinet which is 20 times stronger than plastic, the 1.35 GB hard drive is mounted in a shock-absorbing gel, and the liquid crystal display is protected by internal dampers. Expect to pay well over $5000.

Speaking of leaving the office, you can still keep tabs on things no matter where you are with a product from a vendor to whom you wouldn't routinely turn. The International Maritime Satellite Organization (INMARSAT) is selling a new, slimmed-down version of its mobile phone (http://www.inmarsat.org/inmarsat/html/fulfill/noshock/personal_noshock.html) that can be used literally anywhere in the world, including the most remote and inaccessible areas. While you can't call it cheap, the four-and-a-half pound device has thus far attracted 66,000 customers world-wide and is expected to garner even more at its new "low" price of $3000.

For your more domestic communications needs, there's always the much-ballyhooed Digital PCS from AT&T. Though it doesn't make use of genuine high-frequency, low-power PCS technology, the service does offer voice-mail, e-mail and such services as caller ID. Check out the product information at http://www.attws.com/nohost/cellular/ce_new.html. An interesting wrinkle in the wireless phone industry arises from another service from AT&T (http://www.attws.com/nohost/aboutus/us_prc19.html). The new Wireless Office Service allows corporate customers to use wireless phones internally, via a private wireless network, as well as outside, via AT&T's digital cellular network. The service will be jointly marketed with Nortel, and will cost between $700 and $1,000 per user to install the on-site micro-cells necessary for receiving and transmitting phone calls. For internal calls, any cellular handset may be used, while external calls require the aforementioned Digital PCS handsets.

And as if to prove that the engineers at AT&T are truly indefatigable, the Wireless Service Unit has just released its portable PocketNet Phone that provides fax and e-mail capabilities, as well as (yes, it's true) Web access (http://www.attws.com/nohost/aboutus/us_prc13.html). The phone contains a custom-designed browser for text-only viewing of Web pages and will be priced at around $500.

Until next year, Happy Holidays to you and yours, and don't spend all your money in one place.